(Food-Beverage-News.Com, December 10, 2016 ) Safflower is an annual plant flourish in hot and dry condition, primarily in the western great plain area of the United States. It is also named as Catharanthus tinctorius L. (Botanical Name), Sallflower, False Saffron or Bastard Saffron (because of Saffron like property), American Saffron, Alazor, etc. It is from Asteraceae family and close relative of Sunflower. Safflower extract is a yellow pigment extracted from Safflower soluble in water. Safflower extract is derived by the process of extracting, filtrating, purifying, concentrating, sterilizing, spraying & drying. Traditionally, safflower extract was only used for red and yellow dyes for textile and food industry. But now a days it has a number of usage like in cooking oil, birdseed, superior quality paints and varnishes, infant formulas, cosmetic industry, protein supplement for livestock, beverages, pharmaceutical industry,
Safflower extract contain three types of pigments on the basis of composition which are extracted and separated by using different chemicals:
Red Carthamin
Safflower yellow A
Safflower yellow B
Safflower extract contain about 0.83% of red cathamin and 30% of yellow cathamadin which are extracted either by thin layer chromatography or spectrophotometric measurement. Monosaturated fatty acid (oleic) and Polysaturated fatty acid are the two type of oil present in safflower plant which is responsible for lowering the cholesterol level in the blood.
Major drivers of the Safflower extract market is the rising demand of processed foods. The increasing demand for organic and natural ingredients in processed foods is a very important driving factor. Other very important factor for the growth in safflower extract market is the multi-functionality of the product such as medicinal and colorant property. This replaces a lot of other products used in processed foods which can cause ill effects to human health. In various studies, it is found that safflower can cause adverse effect such as bleeding problems (hemorrhagic diseases, clotting disorders and intestinal ulcers), allergy, increase in sugar level in diabetic patients and miscarriages leads to restraining the market of safflower oil. The major factors which are trending the demand of safflower extract are heath consciousness of people, demand for organic food, growing cosmetic industry, etc.
There is an opportunity for companies in this industry to expand their product in transgenic safflower plant extract for producing human insulin which is having major demand in the market.
Safflower extract market segmentation is done on the basis of nature of offering, application and region. On the basis of nature of offering safflower extract market is segmented as dried powder, decoction and oil. Among these segments safflower oil is represents largest market share as it has massive use in various sectors such as pharmaceutical, food and manufacturing. Safflower extract market is segmented as pharmaceutical industry, food and beverages industry, dyes, cosmetic industry and textile industry on the basis of application. Among these industries pharmaceutical industry represents largest market share followed by food and beverages industry.
Safflower extract market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Japan. The leading producers of safflower extract are India, The United States and Maxico followed by Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, China, The Arab World, Argentina, Tanzania and Australia. More than 60 countries produce safflower plant but India is having half of the market share of the safflower extract mainly for domestic vegetable oil market.
